Modem computer operating systems and application software generally transmit data to and receive data from disc drives in one or more 512 byte data packets. In addition, host computers expect to have access to the data stored on a disc drive at 512 byte boundaries. Given the 512 byte data packet size generally used by host computers today, the size of the data region of the physical sectors in most disc drives is also 512 bytes. The data regions of the physical sectors commonly used on disc drive magnetic media are preceded and followed on the disc by several overhead fields data region. The error correction code (ECC) field, which detects bit errors in the host data of a particular sector, is one of these overhead fields.
The demand for a more reliable computer is continuously increasing in the consumer market. As such, disc drive manufacturers are constantly trying to improve the data integrity on a disc drive. One such approach is to increase the ECC field size. However, increasing ECC field size alone results in an increase in storage overhead beyond an acceptable level. Another approach to increasing data integrity involves increasing the size of the data region proportional to the increase in the ECC field size. This approach maintains approximately the same percentage of storage overhead for the disc drive, while at the same time, providing for desired improvements in data integrity.
Increasing the size of the data region on disc sectors in a disc drive mandates an increased size of packets sent from a sending interface, e.g., host computer, to the disc drive. Coordinating modifications to host systems and disc drives in order to accommodate a change in both data region size and packet size creates logistical problems. Host system developers and disc drive manufacturers both need to coordinate their development activities so that both are ready to implement their respective changes at the same time. To that end, accommodating such a change is also a significant financial expense for both industries.